Archive for the ‘Blog Tours’ Category

Hello friends! Welcome to the Dolly Book Tour! I am so excited to be kicking things off here on Sarana Avenue for Elea Lutz’s new book Dolly for Riley Blake Designs. I have been a fan of Elea’s work ever since I started sewing, I remember looking at her first fabric line Milk, Sugar & Flower seeing all the pretty things being made with her sweet designs and thinking to myself that maybe one day I would be able to make sweet things just like those. Elea’s work just keeps getting sweeter and it’s a true honor to be a part of this wonderful book tour.

Dolly has everything I look for in a good maker book; beautiful pictures, sweet projects in a variety of sizes and skill levels, clear and easy to follow directions, and plenty of room to make things your own style. I had the hardest time choosing what project to make so I decided to start with two (which was still a struggle! They are ALL so cute!). First up, let me introduce you to my very own Dolly:

When my husband came home and saw her sitting on my desk, he asked if I had made myself into a doll, I told him yes I had, because who doesn’t want to be an adorable doll?! Dark hair with natural highlights? Check! Messy bun? Check! Dark eyes? Check! Although I maybe should have dressed her in leggings and t shirt but I think we can all agree her little skirt and top are much cuter!

I didn’t have matching dark brown thread so I decided to add “highlights” to her hair and no “Faith” doll would be complete without curly wisps of hair on her face. Aurifil 12 weight thread was perfect for her eyes and lips. The touch of lace was an afterthought to fancy her up a bit, it’s all in the details, right?

When my sister and I were little we loved wearing socks with lace trim, we called them party socks and wore them every chance we could, so I thought it only right to give Dolly her very own “party socks” with lace peaking out from her boots.

This little yellow floral print is my absolute favorite from Elea’s Little Dolly Fabric line for Penny Rose Fabrics, it reminds me of the little flowers on a favorite blanket I had growing up that my baby now snuggles with. I love her little messy bun, my hair too is ALWAYS in a bun.

Dolly was SO much fun to make and I love how Elea included so many different ways to make her your very own, from hair styles to socks and sleeve options and even fancy eyelashes! The little skirt was so quick and fun, I think she will need some more wardrobe options. As soon as I finished making her I wanted to start all over again and make another! Aren’t those the best kind of projects? The ones you want to make over and over. Good thing I have plenty of little nieces in my life who clearly need their very own Dolly too.

This adorable dollhouse quilt was shown at Spring Market and I absolutely fell in love with the sweet design, when I saw it up close in the book I knew I wanted to make one myself. It’s a pretty big play quilt measuring 37×58 inches and there are details galore! I had so much fun making each little room to my liking, adding and changing bits here and there. This was one of those projects that held my interest from beginning to end with all the steps it included, from each tiny fabric choice, the tracing, cutting, ironing, cutting again, ironing again, and finally sewing; it reminded me of the crafting I did as a child and the simple joys it brought.

Welcome to Little Dolly’s home, make yourself comfortable while we take you on a little tour.

Here we have a sweet little kitchen with pink gingham curtains, a puppy along with his bone and dish, and a fresh pot of applesauce simmering on the stove.

Upstairs we have a beautiful bathroom with a claw foot tub, perfect for bathing Puppy or Little Dolly. I added the ribbons of water and made the tub into a little pocket and no bath is complete without a yellow rubber ducky!

Next we have a perfectly cozy living room where Little Dolly can snuggle up in her big chair to read a good book after a long day of sewing and puppy care.

At the top of the house I added a sewing room complete with sewing machine, iron and Little Dolly’s very own Elea Lutz fabric stash, sure to be the envy of her Little Dolly friends! The sewing machine is a design by Minki Kim that just happened to be the perfect size for our little house.

Here we leave Little Dolly tucked into her bed to snuggle with her favorite Bunny, night, night Little Dolly.

And lastly, we have a tiny little mouse living way up in the attic, because no doll story would be complete without a sweet mouse family scampering around the attic after the house is fast asleep.

Have you fallen in love with this sweet play quilt like I have? Are you thinking of the ways you could make this project your own and of all the fun little details you could add here and there? Perhaps colors and fabric prints are coming to mind as well. This my friend is inspiration and Elea’s book is FULL of it. Full of sweet projects just waiting to be made and treasured for years to come.

This little heap of Dolly mess just brings a smile to my face. For now they are sitting in my room looking cute. Scratch that, this morning I found my two little boys playing trucks and planes on the house lines, haha, boys!

I hope you enjoyed seeing my makes today, this has honestly been the most fun sewing that I have done in a long time and I truly enjoyed it from beginning to end. Thank you Elea for making such a wonderfully sweet book, I can’t wait to make more of your projects!

This is just the beginning of the Dolly Book Tour and I for one can not wait to see what the rest of my friends have made! Make sure to follow along for all the fun and inspiration!

Hi Friends! Welcome to my stop along the Pretty Handmades Book Showcase! Have you met Lauren Wright? She is maker of all things sweet, cute and pink (or at least that’s how I think of her). I am so excited to be a part of this showcase and to help Lauren celebrate her first book.

First off, let me just say that I love Tuva Publishing books. They have published some of my favorite makers and therefore have some of my favorite books. The patterns are always sweet and the pictures are so beautiful and inspiring. This book was a bit of a surprise as I was expecting the more traditional smaller size Tuva book. It is big, has more craft paper feel to it and is full of the sweetest drawings to go along with the patterns.

Just look at the pictures! It definitely adds another layer of charm to this book. With so many sweet makes to chose from, Lauren’s book is great to have on hand for small gifts and those enjoyable slow Saturday sewing projects. This cushion is just one of the items on my list to make from the book! There was however, one project that called out to me right away, I just had to make it!

This gorgeous Garden Path Mini Quilt was so enjoyable to work on, I don’t always take time to slow down and hand sew but when I do I am reminded of how good it feels to just slow down and enjoy the simple work of something like joining hexagons or adding hand stitching to a project.

All of the Hexies I used were gifts from friends, over the past few years I’ve grown a little collection of mostly Liberty hexagons sent to me in swaps from around the world. I couldn’t have planned a better project to join them all together and I love how the green and pinks came together. The two Liberty tea cups are extra special from my friend Lisa Ann and were the perfect center to this table topper/ tea mat. I also spy a little Hello Kitty, which reminds me, I need to find more of those cuties!

I finally had a chance to try the 80 weight thread from Aurifil that I had heard so much about. In the past I had used another very fine thread and had to use a double strand just so it wouldn’t break. I am pleased to say I found the 80 weight great for EPP (English Paper Piecing) and was able to use just one strand.

I skipped the binding that was called for in the book and went with a simple color faded hand stitched double boarder instead. I love how this wool Aurifil added another texture to the Linen and Liberty.

Do you ever just look over each hexie for the little details? So fun! Thank you for stopping by today, I hope you leave here inspired to try something new. Feel free to poke around and check out my simple tutorials and follow along for more excitement coming this month.

Lauren will be giving away a signed copy of her book so be sure to check out the rest of the Pretty Handmades Book Showcase

Hello! Welcome to the Forget-Me-Not Blog Tour! I am so excited to kick this week off and show you what I made. Forget-Me-Not is a beautifully bright and fun fabric line designed by Tammie Green for Riley Blake Designs. Tammie said her inspiration for this line was her little girls and I think that comes across so well in the floral designs and heart motif. The color range with its pops of red and dusky blue makes this line perfect for any girl, whether young or all grown up. And to be fair, my boys didn’t want to part with this quilt either, so I guess that makes this line little boy approved as well 😉

As soon as I saw the Forget-Me-Not fabric line I drew up a simple baby quilt to make for our newest niece. It is a simple 40×40 inch square and I imagine will be used as a play mat and take along quilt on road trips. The design is perfect for a charm pack and a great way to play with solid color as well.

Each block is made up of four 2 inch squares finishing at 4 inches each, just add rows of 2 inch sashing and you have yourself a quick quilt that shows off the sweet prints in a fun way. This would be so pretty using white for the background as well, but this time I thought I would play with color a little more than I usually do, and I really like the results.

For the backing I chose this beautiful main print in teal green. I just love those flowery hearts! For the quilting I used my trusty Aurifil thread 50 weight in a creamy color (2000) that blended in nicely and lets the fabrics stand out. Thanks to my sweet quilty friends for their machine quilting tips, (walking foot, longer stitch length, take it slow, and drink wine, lots of wine!) I am very pleased with my quilting results (which doesn’t happen often).

Riley Blake has beautiful solid fabrics to coordinate with their lines, I used Sea Glass for the background and Coral on the four inch boarder. I love this tiny Petal print for the binding, so perfectly sweet and it comes in three colorways.

This Forget-Me-Not quilt is all ready and waiting for a new baby girl to snuggle. I just keep looking at it, loving it more and more.

Be sure to follow the rest of the tour with Sedef Imer on Wednesday August 30th and Veronica AM on Friday September 1st, and while you are at it check out Tammie Green and her beautiful designs as well.

Thank you for stopping by, for now this little cutie is helping take care of the quilt and hoping it will stay at our home. Maybe the next one will my boy 😉

This Aquarelle Study Tint print jumped out at me right away and I picked the other fabrics to compliment the colors. There is also a pastel colorway which is so soft and beautiful, but for this project I liked the striking blacks and bright pinks with pops of yellow.

My first project is a set of simple zipper pouches that snap together and come apart so you can take one or both of them along with you. Right now I am using them for my makeup, the smaller one holds my on the go makeup, you know; just the essentials. The larger one has my more detailed makeup that I don’t use every day, this way I can take the smaller one and pop it off and into my purse or snap them back together for when I travel.

The gold snaps I ordered HERE ,they were easy to use and I really like the look of them along with the gold zippers. Kinda gives them a bit of a fancy look, don’t ya think?

Here they are snapped together, I love how slim and sleek they are. I used Pellon Flex Foam which gives them a bit more stability and durability than just cotton batting. I’m thinking these could even be used for a fancy date night, and how perfect for sneaking lady products to the bathroom in the smaller one! I’m totally going to do that!

Next up I made a Ruffle Zipper Pouch using my simple tutorial (which you can find HERE). I wanted to add some quilting and I may or may not have gotten a little carried away with it. I used a pink Aurifil (2479) thread and just kept quilting, it was really fun which is why I couldn’t stop!

I just love the flowers that Bonnie makes, so pretty whether they are softly colored or bright and bold; all so pretty. If you haven’t tried making the Ruffle Zipper Pouch, give it a try! It’s easy and quick and really makes a statement.

See how fancy that looks? I love the lining so much too, such a great print! How perfect would that be for binding on a quilt!? So this one ended up with makeup in it too which is funny since I only wear it a couple times a week. I actually think I will send this little set off to a friend. Isn’t it great to have some ready made gifts, especially with the holidays right around the corner (I can’t believe I just said that!).

Simple gifts that are handmade with beautiful fabrics are my favorite. Find Bonnie’s Wonderful Things fabric for sale HERE and see the full blog tour lineup HERE.

Hi everyone! Welcome to my stop along the Made for Baby Blog Tour! I am so excited to be a part of this incredible line up of talented makers. I met Ayda not that long ago through Instagram and let me just say, it was love at first sight! Her makes are so fresh and her posts are beautifully designed, I look forward to them each week. They are my go to “happy place” for when I need inspiration, and to top it off she is just the sweetest!

With a beautiful blog and Instagram feed, I had very high hopes for her first book, especially with Tuva Publishing and their track record of gorgeous sewing books. I was absolutely thrilled when I opened Made for Baby Cute Sewn Gifts and saw such beautiful pages! So many fresh new ideas and sweet little makes, perfect for quick baby gifts.

Not only are the sweetest patterns in here, but it’s also the perfect book to pour over with a cup of tea and just look at all the beautiful pictures and tiny design details. Inspiration for any maker. I have looked through this book several times already and have read over the instructions of most the patterns. Do you do that too? Like a cook reading over a cookbook (which I’ve also been known to do). A good book is a good book and can be read over and over again.

My first project was the adorable Peter Pan Collar. It only took me 30 minutes from start to finish and, I believe would steal the show at any baby shower (which let’s face it, is what we all secretly want to do!). It is reversible and can be gently tied on to dress up any casual baby clothing.

No newborn ensemble would be complete without a pair of mittens! These Liberty of London ones in soft gray Capel and coral lining are the perfect balance of girly yet classic.

Crochet ribbon bows and tiny hand stitching accents are enough to make me want another baby! Well, ALMOST enough 😉

Once again, the mittens took me less than an hour to make and I think it’s safe to say they would be an instant keepsake for any new baby. Wouldn’t a pale blue version be sweet for a baby boy too? As mom of three boys I’m always thinking of boy versions. Can’t let all the pretty thing go to the girls 😉

Ayda has very detailed instructions for each step of her patterns along with pictures and drawings making this book a perfect choice for newer makers as well as more experienced ones. And let’s be honest, it’s just plain eye candy too!

Since there are so many sweet makes in this book, I had to try another. Seriously, this is a book I could easily make everything in it! I’ve done it before with another wonderful Tuva book (which you can see the results of here) and I might not be able to stop myself this time either! I may have a problem, a very fun problem!

The Cute Fabric Boxes made for a wonderful weekend sewing project. I chose to go with the ever classic Liberty and Linen fabric combo bring a bit of sophistication to these little organizer boxes.

It’s all in the details and this soft pink Aurifil thread on the corners of the tray is the icing on top of an already beautifully sweet cake.

And since I have no baby girls in my house, I’ve decided these boxes are just right for my sewing space! I didn’t think I needed any more organization for sewing supplies, but this was super handy having next to my sewing machine yesterday. There are many projects in Made for Baby that can also be Made for Mama, or Grandma or Sewing Friend. Ayda’s book is available from Amazon and I believe is worth its weight in gold. A wonderful resource for sweet sewn gifts as well as to go along with your Saturday morning cup of tea or coffee or whatever you fancy drinking while you look at pretty pages.

Be sure to follow along on all the tour stops listed below and enter for your chance to win a copy of Made for Baby Cute Sewn Gifts over at Cafenohut.

I am so glad you stopped by today, make yourself at home and feel free to look around.

As always, I hope you leave here feeling inspired to make something yourself.

Hi friends! Welcome to the Bunnies and Cream Blog Tour! I am so glad you stopped by!

My name Is Faith Essenburg, I am a stay at home mom of three boys and most days you can find me over on Instagram sharing the little bits of sewing I am able to squeeze in (you know, in all that spare time!). Instagram is also where I met Lauren Nash, designer of Penny Rose Fabrics newest line Bunnies and Cream. I have been a fan of Lauren’s for a couple years now, and was so excited when I heard she had her very own fabric line coming out. I knew it would be incredible because all of Lauren’s work is just so beautiful. I am sure you can guess at my excitement when she asked me to be a part of her blog tour!

Bunnies and Cream is even sweeter in person! My oldest and I spent a good hour pouring over each print when they first arrived. It’s as if Lauren took all the sweetest things and rolled them into the perfect fabric line! Bunnies? Check! Strawberries? Check! Sweet treats? Check! Tiny bows, flowers and gingham? You got it!

I haven’t been able to nail down a favorite print yet either! Did you spy that bit of bunnies selvage at the top there? Too cute!! With fabric this sweet, I knew I wanted to keep things simple on my design, so I went with the classic Nine Patch block. You can see more of my “in progress” pictures HERE.

I went with a big lap quilt measuring roughly 55 x 65 inches, that shows off the small scale prints and also some of the bigger scale blocks. The boarder fabric is a gorgeous embroidery style print that reminds me of those floral ribbons you sometimes find in sewing shops and I just had to make it a big part of my project.

In keeping with the classic feel of the fabrics and simplicity of my blocks, I went with hand quilting. The many hours spent working so closely hand sewing each print was a real treat! Like savoring a sweet dessert. Time to slow down, take it easy and just enjoy the slow motion of hand work.

The recipe prints in this line are just so sweet. My boys decided that they are the three little bunnies and I am the mommy bunny, which pretty much melted my heart. They also wanted to make sure this quilt was going to be staying with us and not heading off to another home, I assured them it was a keeper.

I am always drawn to green, but this blue gingham called to me and made for the perfect pop of color on the binding. How sweet would a little girls dress be made up in the blue color ways? (Note to self, learn garment sewing ASAP!).

I wasn’t sure how long it would take me to hand quilt this but I ended up with time to spare, so I added a double row of pink stitching on the yellow boarder. Those bows and tiny flowers are just perfect!

Just look how snuggly and inviting that looks! And it hasn’t even been through the wash yet, which we all know only adds to the goodness of a handmade quilt 😉 Reminds me of a baby blanket, perfect for Spring. I used a sheet top I had been saving for something special as the backing and it just makes the whole quilt that much softer and sweeter.

And of course I couldn’t stop at just one project! I’m still not tired of all these bunnies! Next I made a mini quilt to show off the tiny prints, perfect for fussy cutting!

Hi everyone! Welcome to my stop on the Quilt Petite Blog Hop! I have been looking forward to Sedef’s book ever since she announced it. I just love her style and sweet makes and let me just say, her book does not disappoint.

Filled with gorgeous pictures and projects, it’s a book I find myself coming back to for ideas, inspiration and let’s be honest here; just to look at. So much pretty. It was hard to chose a project, but I kept coming back to the beautiful Nine Patch.

And of course, I went with all Liberty Of London prints which was a little tricky because of their high volume but also a fun challenge.

I think this project was originally meant to be a wall hanging but I pictured it as a table topper. The directions and steps in Quilt Petite are very easy to follow with lots of illustrations for anything that needs further explaining.

How sweet would a whole baby quilt be in this design? Or placing your Nine Patches in color order would give this project a whole different feel.

I also made little coasters to go along with the “table topper”, perfect for finishing off a pretty little party. I love the versatility of these projects and the interpretation we have seen so far along the blog hop.

This project was a pretty quick make after fabrics were selected and the cutting was done. The little blocks come together quickly and it made for very enjoyable sewing time. I already have more projects mentally lined up to make from this beautiful book.

Hi friends! I am back with another blog tour and this one is very near and dear to my heart. Minki Kim was one of the first people to follow me when I started on Instagram last year; not only follow, but comment and encourage me as a very new maker. I remember the first time I saw her sewing illustrations I could not believe they were done by machine. To me they looked like ink drawings with very tiny, precise hand stitching over them. It boggled my mind to think that these beautiful works of art were done on a home sewing machine. I had the pleasure of trying some of Minki’s patterns earlier this year which you can see HERE and HERE. I have been looking forward to the release of this book all year and to be a part of the blog tour (not to mention along with ALL the super star makers!) is such an honor for me. Ok, enough babbling; lets get to the good stuff!

This beautiful Vignette pattern caught my eye right away, but in more of a “I’ll try that one some day” kind of way. Then after giving it some time and thought, I decided to just go for it. After all, the instructions and writing in this book are amazing! I am convinced Minki and Kristin (Minki’s partner in writing and equal in sweetness) could teach anyone to sew illustrations like a pro.

I pulled my stack (tower?) of Liberty fabrics and used my newest favorites form DuckaDilly Fabrics. It was so fun holding up the templates I had printed onto my Pellon Stick-N-Washaway and choosing just the right colors for each tiny piece. Even my boys got in on the fun of color selections and placements. If you ever enjoyed tracing, drawing, cutting out paper dolls or any other craft as a child, the art of sewing illustration will bring you back to those days. I can’t think of a more enjoyable way to spend a Saturday.

I’ll admit, I did not read ALL of Sew Illustrated, YET. I read just enough for making my pattern and I am saving the rest to read over our Labor Day weekend. This is a very well written book and has a wealth of information, step by step pictures, tips, tricks and ideas for multiple ways to try your own illustrations.

I wanted to make this beautiful design with my own spin on it and what better way than to add my signature Heartstrings! This is pretty much what my work desk looks like most of the time, Liberty mug with coffee, fabrics and threads all over with Liberty Hearts strewn about. Ok, so my actual sewing machine is boring white and I currently have seven stacks of sewing goodness instead of two. So let’s just say this is my sewing desk in an alternate, Liberty of London filled universe!

I used Aurifil 50 weight thread in a deep Navy shade #2745 which I think gives the “picture” an inky look to it. For a bigger piece like this, I started with the larger sections to sew it down, then moved on to the smaller bits. Taking it one small section at a time can take the “overwhelming”feeling you may have out of it.

As you can see, stitches are not perfect. But they also don’t need to be. This is a super close up picture, the scissors is only about 4 inches and from where I’m sitting looking at it on my wall, it looks pretty perfect. So don’t stress the little imperfections, or mistakes; no one will ever know.

For the miniature Heartstrings I used 12 weight thread to give the “string” a bold look. Minki and Kristin have a section all about stitch length for sewing. I find I work best at a 1.o and 1.5 that way my mistakes are so tiny you can hardly see them anyway!

I turned my Vignette into a mini wall hanging with raw edge Liberty binding, keeping with the whole raw edge theme and saving on precious fabric which for me is a win win!

I also had the thought that any of the pieces from Minki’s designs could be framed in a hoop for a bit of wall art. But…

Perhaps I should have stuck to the patterns a bit more because now I have this girl head button smiling at me from in a “jar”! (Insert horror emoji here and read the whole story of the “girl in the jar” HERE).

So here we have it in my sewing space just above my rather messy desk. See the jam jar pin cushion hanging up there? That is a special giveaway I won last year and it is made by Minki herself!. And yes, the little doll head in the jar is there as well, what can I say; it gives me a good chuckle every time I see it.

I have a whole pile of ideas floating around in my head of sewing illustrations to be made! This book is just full of inspiration and I am happy to say that C T Publishing has offered to give a copy to one of you! Just leave a comment on this post and I will chose a winner on August 31st.

Thank you all for stopping by! Feel free to snoop around and follow along for more fun.

Hi friends! Welcome to my stop on Elea Lutz‘s Apple Farm Blog Hop! If you are not familiar with Elea’s incredible talent for making ADORABLE fabric lines, take a minute to check out her work! She is such a sweetie and I am honored to be a part of this fun hop.

Apple Farm has an incredible range of colors that play so nicely together. I thought of leaving the pink colorway out to make for a really fun “boys only” blanket but in the end even my boys liked the pink prints and wanted to leave them in. This fabric was just begging to be made into a picnic quilt, so I set to work right away.

My original plan was a quilt out of the book Simplify by Camille Roskelley. I made up all the blocks which were super fun to assemble, then spent an entire day trying to get the layout just right. I am not a perfectionist by any means (as I will show you) but something just wasn’t clicking for me. So with the help of my niece Lily, (who just happened to be in town for the day) we came up with a new layout.

I love the smaller squares within the large “boxes” that are framed with one and two inch sashing. I only wish I had made more blocks to make up a massive quilt. But 50 x 50 inches should do for now. The simplicity and complete lack of color order make this the perfect “keep in the car quilt” to use for picnics, game day and to keep the kids cozy while the car heats up in the winter.

Mmmm I just love these colors, definitely a retro feel going on here which is just perfect for the cute prints.

Each of the different floral prints are just so adorable and would be the perfect addition to any patchwork project! And see, cutest chicken butt EVER! Oh and a nest full of chirping baby birdies in an apple tree? The cuteness just keeps on coming!

My minimal quilt lines were inspired by Heidi of Fabric Mutt who is a master at balancing vintage and modern. Now this is where you will see (or NOT see) how little of a perfectionist I am. What I am not showing up close are the ripples in my quilt lines that are the result of not having a walking foot. After being highly bummed out by what was supposed to be simple quilt lines, I finally broke down and ordered a walking foot. Too late for this quilt but will hopefully help for my next one. Needless to say, It would be a real shame to spend days undoing my less than perfect quilting to fix a few (read: many) mistakes. This imperfect quilt is already being snuggled, used to make forts, has been spilled on and is currently crumpled in a chair patiently waiting to be pulled out and used in this same manner all over again. Quilts, well MY quilts anyways are made to be loved and USED; imperfections and all. For me, it’s just part of my learning and growing as a maker process, and that is something I am willing to embrace, learn from and try better at next time.

Did I say how much I LOVE the greens in this line? I am a green loving girl at heart and these are just perfect shades from pale mint to deep grass green. Also green flannel for the backing makes this an extra warm and snuggly blanket.

This boy has had his eye on this quilt ever since I started making it. He even climbed on my lap to help sew with me and asked “me have it in my bed?”. How could I resist that little face?! Melt my heart! EDIT: the Apple Farm quilt has been in bed with him for the past three nights now and he couldn’t be happier about it.

So there you have it! My Apple Farm make! Thank you to Elea for inviting me along on this fun hop and to Penny Rose Fabrics and Riley Blake Designs for sending such beautiful fabrics. I hope you will head on over to see what my friend Veronica has made today and tomorrow check out Megan and Amanda‘s makes.

Hi and welcome to my stop on the High Tea Party Blog Tour! My name is Faith Essenburg, I am a newish maker/blogger/Etsy shop owner and mostly just a home maker for a house full of boys! Most days you can find me on Instagram which is where Jera of Quilting in the Rain found me and asked me to be a part of this tour showcasing her first fabric line; High Tea! Jera is just the sweetest and I knew right away what I wanted to make with her beautiful fabrics.

First up is my Reversible Skirt Apron! It’s a super quick and easy make that takes all of an afternoon to whip up (including multiple interruptions from kids!). For this project I chose three different half yard cuts. I kind of fell in love with the pale blue colorway in this line, it’s just the perfect crisp yet soft shade and really lets those strawberries and roses pop.

Here are some simple steps to making your own Reversible Skirt Apron:

Starting off with the pockets, cut two 5×5 inch squares, fold all edges under 1/4 inch, finger press and clip to hold in place. Add a length of crochet trim along the top edge, folding edges under and sewing into place, set aside. Make two pockets, one for each side.

Trim your two main fabrics for front and back to 34 x 18 inches. Pin your pockets into place roughly 8 inches from one side and 8 inches from the top edge. Sew into place, use a back stitch at the top of each pocket to lock your stitches in.

Next align your two fabrics with right sides facing using clips to hold in place. If you like, add crochet trim along the bottom edge as shown below with the fancy edge facing in and the boring edge aligned with raw fabric edges. My trim is pretty narrow so I have spaced it about an 1/8 inch from the edge so more trim will show on the outside.

Sew along both sides and bottom using a 1/4 inch seam allowance. Turn right side out and iron.

Set your machine to the longest length stitch and baste along top edge of apron leaving thread tails at each end.

Taking one of the thread strands (either top or bottom one) pull carefully making even gathers in the fabric as you go until your top edge measures roughly 20 inches across. Clip both ends to hold stitches in place and set aside. Note, you can also hold the fabric up to your waist at this point to check for sizing.

Now to make the sash! Cut two strips of fabric 4 1/2 by width of fabric, with right sides together, mark a line and sew on an angle as shown below:

Trim your excess fabric and press seam open. Using your iron, turn both long edges under 1/4 inch. Fold in half length ways and press, turning both short edges under. you should now have a long sash with all sides folded under like this:

The last step is just a bit tricky and requires my least favorite sewing item: PINS (insert horror face emoji here!). Fold your sashing in half to find the center. Once you find the center match it with the apron center and pin so the sash covers over the front and back top edge of the apron by at least 1/4 inch.

Continue pinning along making sure the sash covers the basting stitches on both the front and back. Starting at one end of the sash, sew using a 1/8 seam going slowly making sure your stitches are catching the back side of the sashing as well. Sew all the way to the other end of sashing and you now have an apron!

You can add a cute patch, embroidery stitching or buttons to give your apron the sweet little details we all love.

I love a big bow on the back of my apron and I like that this reversible apron has a little thickness that will help it hold up over time. Don’t be afraid to actually USE a apron this pretty either! Use and enjoy it!

And what cute apron is complete without a matching oven mitt? I used the same trims and fabrics to make a pretty little pair. Gift set anyone?

These prints are just adorable! There are six color ways in High Tea and this mitt features just a few prints from four of them. There is also a sweet yellow and a pale tan color that all play nicely together. Lecien Fabrics sure picked a winner with Jera!

That tiny teapot and cup are just the sweetest! Patchwork is 1 1/2 inch squares and these prints are perfect for fussy cutting! I imagine we will be seeing them popping up all over in patchwork projects. Also how pretty are those roses and “lace” prints?

Be sue to check out all the other stops for High Tea Party for loads of ideas and inspiration.

I will be working on a tutorial for this oven mitt in the coming weeks, so get started on your Reversible Skirt Apron and stay tuned for an easy oven mitt tutorial, before you know it you will have a nice set for yourself or a gift for a friend!

Thanks for stopping by! Feel free to ask any questions. I’ll see you again soon!